The Methods and Analysis Core has three main functions. First, to supply, operate and maintain the specialized equipment used in individual Research Projects for monitoring physiological and neurobehavioral variables in humand and in rodents. Common recording techniques are used across several projects and this Core will provides individual investigators with expert assistance for optimal operation and trouble-shooting of the equipment. A second main function is to provide investigators in all Projects with standard methods for reporting and quantifying temporal profiles of activity, temperature, sleep stages, hormonal levels, cardiovascular parameters, EEG activity and behavioral variables. The Core also explores and validates novel methods for data analysis. The availability of standardized procedures for data reporting and analysis enables each investigator to extract as much information as possible from the collected data, and facilitates the integration of individual projects as well as communication between investigators. Standardization of data processing and analysis enables additional comparisons of various study groups across Projects, and this more information can be derived from the Program Project as a whole than from the sum of each of its components. The third function of the Core is to provide biostatistical support in the form of expertise, computer resources, oversight, quality control and integration of analyses across projects. Biostatistical support will assist with data verification and cleaning, application of statistical analyses to test stated specific aims and further exploration of secondary hypotheses., The Core will also implement and maintain a data base centralizing all the common measures taken in Projects #7, #8 and #9. The use of these and other new approaches developed by this Core will greatly enhance the overall quality and quantity of the data collected in the individual Projects.